Andalucia: a national reality?

Editorial from our sister paper Ultima Hora AFTER the reform of the Catalan Home Rule Statute went ahead after certain cosmetic changes, now it is the turn of Andalucia, which is involved in great manoevres to approve a draft reform for their Statute, which, at the moment, the leaders of the opposition are not very happy with. Socialism has ruled for many years in the biggest and most populated region of Spain the current reform is the the hands of one party, the PSOE (Spanish Socialists), who have made a pact with the United Left party but feel they are unable to do the same with the Partido Popular and with those of the Andalucian Party, who hold some 40 percent of the seats in the Andalucian Parliament and therefore represent a great many citizens. But in all this, as is occurring lately in the rest of the country, the conflict is a virtual one. Because the warhorse of both is the definition of the community in the introduction to the text. The socialists opt for the confusing term “national reality”, while the Partido Popular raise their hands to their heads and demand that something like “in the inseparable unity of Spain” be added. What is certain is that the definition has little importance, or relatively less, if we compare it to the real, tangible problems which this community has historically suffered, and because of which a good part of the population has had to leave for economic reasons. Andalucia is enormous and still has not managed to find a solution to the centuries old backwardness which it suffers. Because of this, the delicate matter of autonomous financing will continue to be the quid pro quo of this question, way in front of minor, sentimental or political issues, such as the definition of the degree of “nationality” or not of Andalucia. *Editorial published in the leading Spanish newspaper in the Balearics, on Thursday, April 20.